


Akira Suou being Akira Suou

by pico_chulo



Series: Suou AU [5]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akira's last name is Suou, Demiromantic Akira, Maya Amano & Katsuya Suou are the parents of Persona 5 Protagonist, Suou AU, asexual akira, asexual protagonist, no beta we die like men, overly polite akira, pretty boi akira
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:53:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26124541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pico_chulo/pseuds/pico_chulo
Summary: When Akira arrived to Tokyo he could never imagine the adventures he would go through. Throughout it all he remained true to himself even if he could be a little different than his peers.orMoments in the game that I wish would've played out differently (in almost chronological order). Because I'm self-indulgent.---No beta we die like men.
Series: Suou AU [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1851928
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	1. Akira meets Shiho

**Author's Note:**

> A self-fulfilling piece because they are some scenes that I just wish were different.

It was the day after the school volleyball tournament. After the intense run in with Kamoshia, Ryuji had went home fuming. Akira was equally pissed, but knew that it wouldn't do him any good to linger on it. 

The next day was pretty uneventful. _Thank Gods._ He sighed as he walked out of the classroom, careful to avoid Ryuji. He just needed one day to collect his thoughts alone. Besides Akira figured that the intense… enthusiasm of Ryuji to help, could hinder any ideas that Akira came up with. As he walked out to the door, a girl stood in his way on the phone. When she hung up, she seemed to be lost in thought and _is that a bruise over her eye?_ Akira watched her carefully before addressing her. “Oh pardon me.”

She glanced over to him, a little surprised. It took her a moment to even notice she was in front of the doors. “Oh… I’m in the way, aren’t I?” She sighed. “Sorry…”

Akira tilted his head. If he remembered correctly, she was part of the volleyball team. The thought stirred bitterly as he tried not to focus on the bruise. _That bastard._ Akira did her best to give her a gentle smile. "It's alright. But are you ok?" 

"Huh?" Her tone shifted as she came out of her daze. "Um... well..." She glanced down for a moment and then back up. "Wait. Could you be that transfer student from Class D?" 

_'That'_ Akira's mind latched onto the word. He felt his chest tighten, but Akira reluctantly nodded. At first he expected some fearful reaction, considering what she was going through Kamoshida and the rumors of Akira. Instead she maintained a calm composure. 

"Um, this might not be any of my business, but don't let the rumors get to you, Ok?” She return the soft smile that Akira had given her. Akira blinked surprised, feeling relieved.

“Oh. Thank you. It's hard when your misunderstood.” Akira admitted, easing into the conversation. She nodded.

“I've seen you around and you don't seem like a bad guy." She informed him. "My best friend is often misunderstood too, all because of her looks…” She sighed. “Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to drag on like that.” Her smile faded. “Anyway, I have to go to practice… I’ll see you around.” A blank expression pulling the color from her face as she left.

Akira couldn’t stand anyone looking like that. Empty and scared, no doubt from what she was going through. “See you around.”

She walked away and Akira began to leave. Only to get a text from Ryuji to meet up with him. Akira gathered up his strength and went to meet Ryuji who was half-way cursing about something when he arrived. Maybe together they could figure out someway to help.


	2. Akira and tea

The not-a-cat, Morgana had managed to make his way into the real world, in oddly enough, the form of a cat. After talking with Morgana, Akira and Ryuji got a stronger idea of the other world, the Metaverse. The palace was a manifestation of Kamoshida's desires. If they were to eliminate the source of Kamoshida's desires, they could change him and end the suffering of all the students under him. But according to Morgana, it could also straight up kill Kamoshida. Akira wasn't a murderer no matter how bad Kamoshida was. 

As he made his way home, Akira's head was buzzing around the topic. _What should I do? Is it worth the risk of killing Kamoshida if it would end the suffering of all those students?_ Akira didn’t know the answer and it just made him feel even worse. He sighed and continued on his journey. On his way out, he heard a familiar voice shout nearby. “Will you please give it a rest!?” Akira glanced over to see Ann shouting. “That’s not what you promised! And you call yourself a teacher!?” Her hand over her phone was physically trembling with anger. “This has nothing to do with Shiho.”

Ann hung up and then crouched down in a corner, on the verge of tears. Akira glanced around for a moment but then concerned, approached Ann. “Hey are you ok?”

Ann jumped to her feet, startled. “Wait… were you listening?” 

“Not on purpose.” Akira admitted.

She sighed, wiping a tear from her cheek. “So how much did you hear…?”

“You were arguing with someone.” He explained.

“It’s nothing at all…” She glanced down, her voice quieted. “Nothing…” She ran off crying. Akira watched her leave and sighed. He glanced down to notice that her phone had fallen out of her pocket.

Akira noticed and quickly picked it up to follow after her. “Ann wait!” She didn’t stop, she kept running. Akira kept up with her and finally he cornered her.

“Stop following me! Just leave me alone!” She snapped. 

“Just calm down.” He told her and held out her phone. “I just wanted to return this.” Her harsh defensive demeanor softened as she took it from him. Tears rolling down her cheeks. “Hey if you want to talk, let’s go somewhere.” It took her a moment to decide, but she nodded. Akira guided her to a nearby café. Though as they sat down, she grew defensive again. “I don’t have anything to talk about with you.” She asserted. He respected her defense, he couldn't know what she was going through.

“Alright.” He grabbed a coffee and sat down across from her. After a few minutes of silence, she began to talk.

“It was just an argument…” She sighed.

“With Kamoshida?” Akira asked quietly. By the pained expression on her face, he could tell he was right.

Ann placed her elbow on the table and leaned into her own hand as she talked. Her gaze on her cup of water. “You’ve heard the rumors… haven’t you? About Mr. Kamoshida.” She sighed. He nodded. “Everyone says we’re getting it on. But… that’s so not true!”Akira had suspected this, but to hear her say it was heartbreaking in a way. “That was him on the other line.” She continued. “I avoided giving him my number… for the longest time…” She began to scratch at the napkin. “He told me to go to his place after this. You know what it means.”

He did.

Ann continued. “If I turn him down, he said he’d take my friend off as a regular on the team.” She shook. “I’ve been telling myself that this is all for Shiho’s sake…” She started to cry. “I can’t take it anymore.”

Akira glanced away. He thought back to the palace. Seeing his classmate in pain like this… knowing so many suffering because of Kamoshida. _Would_ _it really that bad if Kamoshida just_ …

“I’ve had enough of this… I hate him!” Her voice softened. “But still Shiho’s my best friend. She’s all I have left at that sorry excuse of a school…” She looked up to him, pleading and crying. “Tell me… what should I do?”

Akira glanced back to Ann, meeting her gaze. _What should I do?_ The question echoed in his brain as she seemed to calm down.

“Sorry…” She wiped the tears away and sighed. “I shouldn’t have asked. It’s not your problem.”

 _Maybe not... but maybe I should..._ A gentle and determined flame settled in his gut. He had to do something… and if that meant risking Kamoshida’s life… then he maybe he was ok with that.

“What… am I saying? I’ve barely even talked to you before…” Ann muttered. Akira settled his own inner dialogue and continued. 

“Maybe that’s why. It can be easier to vent with someone who isn't involved.” Akira suggested.

Ann nodded. “You might right.” She took a drink of her water. “You’re so weird. Usually everyone just ignores me.” She looked up to him curious “Are you really a bad person as the rumor says…? You just don’t seem like it…”

"I've heard there are rumors about me. What do they say exactly?" Akira tilted his head. 

“That you assaulted someone… That you almost killed them…” She explained.

“Really? That's ridiculous.” He told her.

“I kinda had a feeling they were all just exaggerations.” She glanced away a little. “You seemed lonely—almost like you didn’t belong anywhere…” She looked back at him. “We’re the same in that regard. Maybe that’s the real reason why it was so easy for me to talk to you.” She leaned onto her elbow again. “Is there really no way for me to help Shiho?” She looked down. “I wish he’d just change his mind. Like, forget about me and everything…” She leaned back and let out a defeated hiss. “As if something like that would ever happen…” 

“If only…” Akira did his best to smile a little. The blonde returned the gesture, looking more at ease now. Ann sighed in relief and then glanced down at her phone to see the time. 

“I feel a bit better now. I think I’m gonna head home.” She started to shuffle out of the booth. “Don’t tell anyone what I told you, OK?”

Akira nodded. “Of course.”

“I’ll try and think of a way to persuade Kamoshida… Well thanks.” With that Ann left.

Akira finished his coffee and made his way home.

When he got home, Ryuji texted him. He didn’t know what to say to him though. Any certainty that had come up during his conversation with Ann had flickered down and Akira was now unsure about what exactly he wanted to do next. Ryuji was reluctant to even try and though Akira didn’t want blood on his hands he had to learn more about stealing distorted desires… if they could really do it then maybe they could do some good. _But could we really pull it off?_


	3. Akira loves sweets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In celebration of Kamoshida's change of heart, Akira and friends eat at a nice restaurant. (Or Akira loves sweets)

After selling off Kamoshida’s treasure medal, the group had decided to use the funds to eat at a nice buffet place in some fancy hotel. Currently, Akira was getting through a small plate of ‘actual food’, Morgana wouldn’t let Akira eat dessert until he did so. 

Akira sat happily talking with his two blonde friends and chatted as they ate. The topic quickly shifted from lighter topics to the events unfolding around them. “I heard that the police are coming to interview some people at school.” Ann mentioned.

“That’s troublesome.” Morgana sighed. Akira nodded. 

“Our names are gonna come up for sure. People’re spreadin’ all sorts of rumors about us and Kamoshida.” Ryuji began a little seriously and then shifted into a bright grin. “But we got ‘em pumped up! I keep hearin’ stuff like, ‘The Phantom Thieves really stole his heart’! I think most people don’t believe it, but some of them actually seem grateful.” Ryuji explained and then pulled out his phone to show something to the group.

Akira and Ann leaned in. “The Phantom Aficionado Website?” Ann started to read off the screen. “Let’s see, ‘Well done, Phantom Thieves’, ‘Now I can keep going too’, ‘Thank you for giving us hope’.” 

“Pretty cool, huh?” Ryuji told them and pulled the phone back.

Ann nodded. "I was just desperate to deal with my own problems, but seeing people saying all this feels… strange.” Ann.

It gave Akira the chance to pull out his own phone to see the site himself. As he scrolled through the messages, he felt a swell of pride in him. Changing Kamoshida's heart had helped people so much more than Akira had imagined. _I wonder if we could do this again..._ Before he could think more on the idea, Akira's mind wandered to the sweet treats he had seen earlier in the buffet. _Maybe a fruit tart? Or Cake? They had a tiramisu that looked tasty._ Akira smiled at the thought, his mouth practically watering.

“Yeah.” Ryuji leaned back and then turned to Akira, still planning his next plate. “Hey… What do we do now?”

“I was planning on dessert.” Akira told him. 

Ryuji sighed. “I didn’t mean—” 

“—I totally forgot! This place has a time limit!” Ann shouted and stood up.

Ryuji’s eyes widened as he stood up too. “Oh crap! We only got an hour to eat!” The two blondes started to panic. Akira stood up calmly. If he wanted to get all of the sweets, he had to do it now.

“Wait Akira." Ryuji gestured him to sit down. "Look after our stuff! We’ll snag something for you guys too, don’t worry!” Ryuji assured him as he and Ann went off.

Akira reluctantly sighed and sat down next to Morgana. He leaned back and crossed his arms. It occured to him that they didn't even ask what he wanted. "I hope they bring back some cake." Akira muttered.

"I hope they bring back fish." Morgana seemed to have come to the same conclusion

The two of them sighed as they waited for the others to come back. When they returned, Akira glanced briefly to what they had brought. _No cake._ Akira groaned and completely ignored what they had brought. The dark haired teen made his way straight to the dessert table. He piled his plates with dessert, though sadly unable to get a bit of everything. On his way back to their table he spotted the meat station. _Maybe something for Morgana..._ Akira swung by and grabbed a small plate of fish. 

It wasn't until Akira got back to the table, that he had time to process exactly what Ann and Ryuji had gotten Akira and Morgana. Morgana's loud complaints made Akira focus on the plate on the table. It was unclear what exactly was on it. But whatever they had gotten it was all mixed up and unrecognizable. Akira grimaced and felt his stomach turn at the sight. "Yeah I'm not eating that." Akira blatantly told them. 

"What?! But we got it for you!" Ryuji shouted and pushed the plate closer to Akira.

"Yeah besides even if it's mixed together it should still be tasty."

Akira shook his head and nudged the plate away from them. _Really how could they think this would taste good._ He sighed and placed his new ones down in front of him and Morgana. 

As he returned Morgana was in the middle of complaining about what Ann and Ryuji had brought them. Akira cringed as he stopped to stare at the plate. Whatever they had gotten it was all mixed up and unrecognizable. “Yeah I’m not eating that.” Akira blatantly told Morgana.

“What?! But we got it for you!” Ryuji shouted at him. Akira ignored him and placed this fish beside Morgana.

“Here I got you something.” Akira smiled. Morgana’s eyes lit up as he glanced at the fish plate. "Just what I expect from you! You're so considerate Akira!" The not-a-cat purred and started to eat. 

Akira began eating his own plate, with no intention of even touching the monster plate again. "You should try the fruit tarts they're delicious!" Ann pointed out, having eaten as may desserts as Akira. The group continued to chat and joke as they spent their allotted time at the restaurant. 

As their time came to a close, Akira stood up and stretched. He had never felt more satisfied in his life. "That was delicious." Akira smiled pleased. The others nodded. The pleasant moment was soured when Ryuji and Morgana both felt sick. Akira wondered if it was the fish. Akira begrudgingly accompanied the two to the restroom while Ann waited with their things.

Both Ryuji and Morgana had ended up throwing up, which made Akira a little queasy himself. 

On their way back to the restaurant from the restrooms, Akira and Ryuji ended up waiting for the elevator. The two of them were abruptly pushed out of the way by a group suited men.

“What the—” Ryuji growled as they watched the group go ahead. The men were arguing amongst themselves about something and seemed completely unaware or uncaring about the people around them. “Hey, you’re cuttin’ in line!”

Ryuji tapped on one of the men’s shoulder. “What do you want?” He turned around. Akira caught sight of the bald man in the middle. Akira moved a little to get a better look at the guy. Something about him seemed familiar in the worst way.

“We were in line first! You can’t just cut in front of us like that.” Ryuji growled.

The bald man scoffed. “It seems the customer base has changed since I was here last. Have they started a day care?”

“What?” Ryuji growled. A cold chill ran up Akira, a mix of confusion and fear as he recognized the voice. _That's..._ Akira couldn't stop his mind looping back to the night that his life changed. Akira had thought that he would be so angry he would have enough strength to fight back. But he couldn’t, he felt his mind sink into the feelings of helplessness and fear. 

“Sir we don’t have time for this.” One of the guards informed the bald man.

“I know.” The bald man replied. Determined, Ryuji stepped towards the elevator and one of the men shoved Ryuji back.

“Don’t bother with them!” The harsh words, snapped Akira out of his daze. He clenched his jaw trying to gather some strength to do something, anything. But the man and his group left in the elevator, leaving Akira frozen where he stood. 

“The hell was with that bossy guy?” Ryuji grumbled, still angry and stepping back to Akira's side.

Morgana peeked his head from Akira's bag. “Shouldn’t we head back down?” He suggested. Ryuji nodded and kicked the ground.

“Yeah but that dick really pissed me off. He wasn’t even hidin’ the fact that he looks down on everyone!” Ryuji continued to go off.

Akira did his best to calm himself with a few deep breaths. He felt sick and cold, his body on the verge of shaking. _Calm down. It's ok._ He repeated these affirmations to himself. _All I can do is move forward._

“Akira?” Ryuji paused his rant to address a pale Akira. “You don’t look so good. Are you not feeling well?”

Akira released a deep breath and tried to brush it off. “It’s nothing.” Akira tried to give a faint smile as he ran a hand through his hair. “Just a little light-headed.”


	4. The boy could be a model

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira gets approached by a stranger with an unexpected offer.

Akira had felt a bit odd walking around the station. Sure he was used to the occasional stares on the subway, especially while carrying Morgana in his bag, but as he stood in the subway the feeling of being watched felt more intense. _Am I being stalked?_ The thought crossed his mind as he instinctively glanced around. Unable to notice anything out of ordinary, Akira shook the thought off as he met up with Ann and Ryuji.

The feeling in his stomach only got worse as the trio got onto the escalator leading up to the street. 

“Oh my god, that guy got off!” Ann squeaked as they rode the escalator. Akira glanced back to her. “Isn’t this bad?” She asked him nervously. He glanced back to see who she was gesturing to. It was a guy around their age with dark blue hair. He wore a long white buttoned shirt. Akira could've sworn that he had seen him earlier. The thought didn't sit well with him and he looked back over to his nervous friend.

"Let's just be careful." He assured Ann with a smile. "Maybe it's just a coincidence." Akira suggested, though he didn't fully believe it. 

Ryuji yawned, unphased. "Aren't you guys overreacting?"

“Hey at least act like you care.” Ann snapped at Ryuji, hands on her hips. Akira thought for a moment on what to do.

“Ugh fine. Come on.” Ryuji moved ahead of the two. Akira gestured for Ann to go ahead of him as they made there way up. Determined to put some kind of buffer between her and the stranger. Once they got onto the street, the three of them moved to the side. Akira hoped that it would allow them to lose the guy in case that he was actually following them.

For a minute they waited. Ann remained uneasy and so did Akira. He could only imagine how often she had to deal with people like this.

To their surprise, once the strange guy got onto the street he made his way over to group. Taking things seriously now, Ryuji stepped in front of Ann and Akira defensively. "Stop right there creep!" He shouted. The guy stopped a little startled by Ryuji. 

Ann stepped forward too, emboldened by Ryuji. "Why have you been stalking me!?" Ann shouted at him. 

The blue haired guy tilted his head confused. "Stalking _you_...? That's outrageous." He retorted, crossing his arms. 

"Really? I know you've been following me! Ever since the train!" Ann shouted. The guy blinked as if something clicked. He gave a gentle shake of his head. 

"This is a simple misunderstanding I--" 

The guy's explanation was cut off by a car honk nearby. Akira glanced over to a nice black car. The windows were rolled down, revealing an older man calling out to the guy. "I had wondered why you left the car! So this is where your passion led. All is well that ends well.” The old man laughed. 

Akira glanced back to the guy who seemed more at ease now. "I saw you from the car and I couldn’t help myself from chasing after you." He spoke looking towards them. "I didn’t even notice the calls from Sensei. But thank goodness I caught up to you. You’re the one I’ve been searching for all this time! Please, won’t you—” The guy stepped forward.

“W-Wait a minute, I—”

“—Be the model for my next art piece!?” The guy had pushed past Ann and Ryuji, addressing Akira directly. 

“Model?!” Ann and Ryuji shouted. Akira felt himself grow warm in embarrassment. 

“All that I’ve drawn till now has been lacking, but I feel a strange passion from you unlike anyone else.” He continued to express his thoughts to Akira. 

“Watch out Akira! This man’s highly suspicious!” Morgana warned from Akira's bag. 

“Ain’t this a recruit for some shady business?” Ryuji questioned.

The guy shook his head. “Certainly not!" He affirmed and asked Akira again. "Will you cooperate with me? What do you say?”

“Well…” What could Akira say? A stranger had come up to him and now wanted to use him as a model. The idea of it made him uncomfortable, though the implication of his attractiveness made him feel a little proud. It was a complicated situation, but first and foremost Akira felt ambushed by the question. _I need more time to think about this._

“Whoa! Hold your horses!" Aggressively, Ryuji reinserted himself in between them. "Who’re you anyways?”

“Oh, where are my manners?" The guy took a step back and spoke with a polite smile. "My name is Yusuke Kitagawa. I’m a second-year at Kosei High’s fine-arts division. I’m Madarame-sensei’s pupil and I am being allowed residence at his place. I’m striving to become an artist.”

“Madarame?” Akira tilted his head, the name rang a bell but he couldn't quite pin why.

“Huh!? Do you mean the one who was on ‘Good Morning Japan’ the other day?” Ann lit up at the name. 

Yusuke smiled a little amused and nodded. “The very same.” 

“He was introduced as a super-famous Japanese-style artist who’s been recognized all over the world.” Ann’s voice softened.

 _Madarame... a famous Artist..._ The pieces were still fuzzy, but he muttered to Morgana. "Morgana didn't we hear that name in Mementos?" 

Another car honk broke the conversation. Akira had completely forgotten the car sitting in the street beside them. Yusuke seemed to have done the same. 

"Yusuke!" The guy in the car shouted. 

Apologetic, Yusuke called back to him. "I'm sorry, Sensei. I'll be right there!" 

“That old guy’s Madarame…" Ryuji mumbled under his breath barely loud enough for Akira and Ann to hear. 

Yusuke pulled something out of his pocket.“Madarame-sensei’s exhibition will begin at the department store near the station tomorrow. I’ll be there to help out on opening day. Please come by." He offered a ticket to Akira. "It’d be great if you could give me your answer in regard to being a model then…” Akira politely took it from him. “I doubt that you’re friend has no interest in the fine arts, but I’ll give you enough tickets for both of your friends.” Yusuke two additional tickets to Ann.“Well then, I hope to see you there tomorrow.”

With a short farewell, Yusuke headed for the car and drove off. The awkwardness after he had left still lingered. "That guy that was super weird" Ryuji turned over to Akira, who was intriguingly reading over the ticket. "Wait, you're not actually plannin' on goin' are you?" Ryuji asked. Akira nodded. 

"I don't see why not. Besides Madarame was mentioned in Mementos." Akira justified, mostly curious about the exhibit. It had been too long since Akira had gone to an art exhibit. _It could be fun._

"Whoa when you mention it you're right." It was a surprise that Ryuji didn't remember it. Though to be fair they had been sorting through so many potential targets that even Akira had a hard time remembering names.

"He could be a good possible target." Morgana agreed, peeking out Akira's bag to talk to them. 

"What do you think Ann?" Akira asked. Ann nodded. 

Ann answered with a firm nod. "I think I'll go too." Her phone buzzed and she glanced down to check it. "Oh crap! Look at the time! I'll see you guys later!" Ann rushed off as Akira and Ryuji saw her off. 

As Akira made his way through the street, he found his eyes lingering on the ticket in his hand. _A model huh?_ Akira found the idea a little funny. _Still it could be interesting... well as long as it's nothing too weird._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akira is a beautiful boy and is should've been mentioned during Madarame's investigation.


	5. The Art Exhibition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At Yusuke's invitation, Akira and friends go to Madarame's exhibit. Implied homophobia.

Akira had made up his mind when he got ready the next day. Before he made a decision whether to model or not, he would hear what Yusuke wanted him to model. At the same time the others would start investigating Madarame. Hopefully someone at the exhibition could give them an insight on him, as an artist and a person.

The exhibit was incredibly crowded when they arrived. Akira and friends wiggled in to try and find Yusuke. Luckily for them, Yusuke was lingering towards the front of the exhibit where some reporters were set up. “You came!” Yusuke greeted them, gracefully walking over to the group. 

Akira politely returned the smile. "Of course thank you for inviting us." Yusuke glanced behind Akira to Ann and Ryuji.

His demeanor stiffened a bit. "You _all_ came.” The blue-haired student's tone was dry and slightly condescending. 

“What’d you expect when you left us those tickets!?” Ryuji barked back. The difference between the two boys creating a friction. Akira wondered if Ann and Ryuji would be okay investigating without Akira. 

"Make sure that you don’t get in the way of the other visitors.” Yusuke maintained most of his composure as he gave a warning to the group, though the words were clearly aimed at Ryuji.Yusuke's demeanor eased as he turned back to Akira. “Come now. I’ll show you around and speak to you more about the piece that I've been considering.” Yusuke started to walk off ahead of Akira. 

“See you guys later.” Akira briefly said goodbye to his friends as he followed Yusuke throught the exhibition hall.

The tour was actually quite interesting for Akira. Admittedly, Akira didn't know much about Art. Still Yusuke was polite enough and with some well placed questions their conversation went rather well. The young artist was passionate and his poised demeanor reminded him a lot of his Uncle Jun. Though Akira felt odd noticing it.

Yusuke still was flushing out the details of his project. From Akira's understanding, Yusuke wanted to do something rather modest and composed. Akira had heard enough to make a decision. "I'd love to model for you. You're piece sounds interesting. I'm not much of a model though." Akira sheepishly admitted. The blue-haired artist smiled pleased.

"Thank you. All that's left is to pitch the piece to Sensei. I value his input greatly." Yusuke informed Akira. Yusuke smiled. "I believe he is still busy with reporters so I suggest we look around a while longer." 

Akira agreed and the two continued to view the art pieces on display. 

“This exhibit has an incredible variety of pieces.” Akira commented as they stopped to look at a piece in the back of the exhibition space. It felt particularly different than the others. It said _**Madarame**_ on the artist tag, but by the way Yusuke was eyeing it, Akira wondered if it was wrong. 

“Usually one concentrates on their own style." The young artist paused. "However, Sensei creates all this by himself." Another pause. "He’s special.” The way Yusuke spoke bothered Akira. It felt forced, as if Yusuke had had to repeat the words a thousand times before. Nothing came to Akira's mind to help address the issue. Instead Akira simply stared at the piece a bit longer. It was strange, he could almost feel frustration looking at the piece.

“There you are, Yusuke.”

The two boys turned around to see a familiar old man approach them. 

“Sensei!” Yusuke straightened his posture.

Madarame smiled and then glanced over Akira. “Ah, you were with that girl from yesterday.” Akira nodded. “Are you enjoying the exhibit?”

“Yes it's been an enlightening experience.” Akira explained and Madarame's smile widened in pride. 

“You’re sensing something from the artwork… That alone is enough to give us artists satisfaction.” The words seemed so friendly and humble. Different than how he had expected such a renowned artist to speak. 

“Sensei, I’d like to ask your opinion." Yusuke cleared his throat. Madarame watched his pupil with an intensely. "What do you think of him being a model for my next piece?”

With all attention focused on Akira, he felt a little self-conscious. Madarame leaned a little to try and get a solid view of Akira. Cautiously, Madarame answered Yusuke. “Well he definitely has a good form and aesthetic features... still I would consider drawing a male model unwise."

Akira could feel the enthusiasm drain from Yusuke. He glanced over to Yusuke as Madarame continued. "I feel that perhaps a _different_ model could be better suited for your work. Perhaps that blonde girl who he was with before.” 

"I see." Yusuke quietly replied. "Thank you for your input Sensei." Yusuke bowed.

There was a dullness in Yusuke's gaze. The same dullness that he had seen in the students who had been involved in Kamoshida. The similarity made Akira uneasy. _Maybe I'm just looking too much into it..._ Akira wondered. Though by the empowered smirk on Madarame's face told him otherwise. 

"As always I look forward to see what you come up with Yusuke." Madarame excused himself and left the two of the boys alone. 

At his departure, an awkwardness settled between Yusuke and Akira. Akira couldn't help but stare at Yusuke, wondering if he should say something. He refrained and allowed Yusuke to process what Madarame had said. “Maybe Sensei is right…” Yusuke finally muttered under his breath. 

"If you would like." Akira began, trying to ease Yusuke's internal frustration. "I could ask Ann if she could take my place as your model." Yusuke blinked away his thoughts and then looked at Akira, surprised. 

"You would? That's very kind of you." Yusuke's relief slipped into an pained frown. "Though it seems rather rude of me to change my vision after you willingly accepted my offer." 

"It's no problem. You're the artist after all. You get to decide what you create." Akira answered. The air seemed lighter now and Yusuke nodded with a grateful smile. 

“I appreciate your understanding. Come now, there are some more pieces I’d like to show you.”


	6. Getting Makoto off the trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira noticing a certain student council president following him and decides to have some fun with it.

The first time he noticed Makoto watching him was when he was at school. He had been studying in the library. She was practically glaring at him over the textbook she was reading.

It wasn’t a big deal. Akira was now used to the cautious, and sometimes hostile, stares of his classmates. When he finished what he had been working on, he stood up and went to the bookshelf nearby to pick out a book that had caught his eye. “Thank you. Have a nice day.” He gave the girl at the desk a gentle smile. She returned the gesture, having slowly warmed up to Akira. He remembered how frightened she had been when he first came to the library. Akira selfishly hoped that others would also warm up to him.

The second time he notice Makoto he was on his way home. The same critical glare glued to him as she waited among the group of people. _She’s just on her way home._ Akira tried to tell himself. Though he had paid attention enough to note two things. One, that she had never taken this way before, and two, that every move Akira made she seemed to follow. Akira sighed and got onto the train, relieved that she hadn’t followed him there too.

“You saw that too right?” Morgana asked peeking out of his bag. Akira nodded and hoped that it was done.

It wasn't. 

Time and Time again, Akira would spot Makoto around school and the subway weirdly invested in what Akira was doing and who was with. 

Akira drew the line when he spotted Makoto watching him run errands on Central Street. He had been out shopping for his weekly groceries. Sojiro never let him use any of the LeBlanc supplies so he had to get creative. He stopped at the Big Bang Burger. Fast food had never been his preference. His father had gotten into cooking around when Akira was born so his family never ate out much. But in Tokyo, Akira found he didn't have much time to cook. Especially between training in the Metaverse and his school work. 

He sat there eating through his fries while reading some notes on his phone. As he ate he felt a strange sense of being watched. He glanced around only to spot a familiar classmate in the corner of the room, her face hidden behind a magazine. _Makoto?_ If it was anyone else, Akira wouldn't have found it strange. It was Sunday after all and it seemed like a pretty popular place to go. But considering how often he had seen her looming around him, he knew he had to do something about it. Akira finished his burger and walked onto the street. His phone buzzing as he stepped out. He pulled it out and placed the phone to his ear. 

"Hey Mom." Akira smiled and started to stroll down the street. 

"Akira dear! Did you see the recipe your father sent?" His mother asked. Akira nodded. 

"Yep. I still have a few more ingredients to grab, but I'm excited to try it out." Akira paused in his steps as he passed by the bookstore window. On display was a new Phoenix Ranger comic. It piqued Akira's interest and he stopped to inspect the cover. _I didn't even notice that the new one was out yet._

"...Anyway tell us how it turns out ok?" His mom finished. Akira feeling a little guilty for zoning out.

"Of course. Talk to you later mom. Tell dad I said hi." 

"I will. Talk to you later Akira."

"Bye." Akira hung up and continued to look at the display for a bit longer. A movement behind his reflection caught his eye. Akira focused on it. _Is that Makoto?_ He tilted his head slightly. It seemed like the short-haired girl was watching him from the otherside of the street. Akira felt uneasy trying to figure out why she was so intent on spying on him… or was it stalking? Either way Akira didn’t like it.

He placed his phone his pocket. Coming up with a plan to diffuse the situation, Akira walked into the bookstore. Partially expecting Makoto to follow him _into_ the store. She didn’t. Though she did get closer to the bookstore, peering into the shop by ‘looking’ at the display.

Akira had enough. After purposely purchasing two copies of the comic, he walked out. “Nijima-San? What are you doing here?” He asked naively. The girl practically jumped out of her skin as she approached him.

“Oh Suou-kun! I-uh I’m just here to check out the new things they had on sale.” She tried to brush off her surprise. As much as she tried, she couldn't hide her noticeable fear of him. Akira watched her fiddle a bit before springing his plan into action. 

“So do you like Phoenix Rangers too?” Akira asked lightly gesturing to the display. Makoto blinked and then immediately glanced to the display. Eyes wide and panicked. Apparently, she hadn’t paid much attention to it. _Just what I was counting on._

“Well I-“ 

“-I accidentally bought two copies." Akira cut her off, quick not to give her too much time to think or weasel out of it. "I'd feel bad if I had to return the extra so...” Akira sifted through his bag and pulled one out. “Here you can have the extra copy.” Akira smiled coyly as he offered it to her. The shock on Makoto’s face was priceless. _Got her._

Embarrassed and clearly hiding her disdain for the comic, she accepted it. “O-Oh wow. Uh thanks.” 

Before Akira could continue the conversation, his phone buzzed wildly in his pocket. He pulled it out. Forgetting that he had left an alarm for when he needed to head home. "Oh." He muttered and then placed the phone back into his pocket. "Well I should get going. But I'll see you at school. I hope you enjoy the comic. I know I'm excited to read it." Akira gently waved and left the girl on the street. He hoped that her defeat would help her to leave him alone. 

As expected it did the trick. _The best money I ever spent._


	7. Fireworks and Yukatas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira dresses up and enjoys the fireworks festival with his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We were robbed of this.

Luckily for Akira, his parents had been considerate enough to pack his Yukata for any festivals he would go to. The time it took for Akira to get himself into was a little longer than he had expected. It felt weird for Akira to bring his bag along, but it would be unfair to leave Morgana behind. Akira’s phone buzzed as he and Morgana made their way to train station. “Who is it?” Morgana asked. 

"Mishima." Akira answered briefly as he opened the text. Morgana peering down over the bag to read Akira's phone.

**Mishima: Hey I saw some disturbing news online. It sounds like it’ll be really bad if it turns out to be true.**

**Akira: What is it?**

**Mishima: Well, it seems like an insane group is getting ready to declare war on the Phantom Thieves. I was afraid to just hold on to that information myself, so I wanted to tell you at least.**

**Akira: I appreciate it. Do you know anything else about it?**

**Mishima: No. That’s actually I have to say. You're going to the fireworks festival today, right?**

**Akira: Yeah.**

**Mishima:** **Sorry to bother you on your day off then.**

**Akira: Don't worry about it. Thanks for letting me know. :)**

**Mishima: That's what I'm here for!**

Morgana let out a concerned hm. “What could he mean by an insane group?” Morgana asked Akira. Akira shrugged and placed his phone into his bag.

“Let’s not think about it right now.” Akira looked down to Morgana. “It’s our day off. Let’s have some fun.” He smiled. Morgana nodded and gave a smile back. At least Akira assumed it was a smile. He found it hard to read the expressions of a cat.

“You’re right Akira. We can think about it after we get back.”

Two of them set off to meet the others. 

* * *

When Akira arrived it was just Ryuji and Yusuke. Yusuke was also dressed in a Yukata, which made Akira feel better. The uncomfortable stares on the train made him feel self-conscious. “Ah Akira. I see you decided to dawn a yukata too.” Yusuke greeted him with a smile. 

"Of course." Akira smiled back settling amongst his friends. 

“Really dude? Now I feel underdressed.” Ryuji sighed. 

Akira wondered if Ann and Makoto would wear one as well. “Did you not want to put yours on?”

Ryuji shook his head. “No it’s not that. I just don’t got clothes like yukata.” He took a glance at his friends as he leaned against a pillar. “But man, Yusuke you look way too normal in that.”

“People often say that to me.” Yusuke admitted proudly. Akira wasn't too surprised by that. By the way Yusuke carried himself, it was like he was born to wear clothes like that. 

Ann and Makoto had still not arrived, so the trio (and Morgana) started to chat. Mostly about grades. Ryuji and Morgana did the majority of the talking. Apparently Ryuji wasn't very confident in how his exams went. Akira wondered if he should make a study group the next time around. He did pretty well on his own. _I'll have to bring it up sometime._

As they chatted a group of girls approached the guys. “Are you guys going to the fireworks festival?” They asked. Most of them huddled around Yusuke and Akira. One of them getting a little close for Akira’s comfort.

“That’s right.” Yusuke answered calmly.

“Us too! Wanna go together?” Another girl asked Yusuke. 

“Are we… getting hit on!?” Ryuji muttered excitedly to Akira.

'Getting hit on' was the last thing that Akira wanted. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. “Actually we’re kind of waiting for our friends. So...” Akira explained to them. One of them pouting and getting closer to Akira. Akira stepped back. 

“Oh c’mon. Let’s go together.” 

“Do you happen to be a model? You look great in that yukata.” The girl touched Akira's arm. Akira pulled back and looked to Ryuji, hoping to find some support. Instead he found an all too pleased grin. Akira forgot that Ryuji was straight. _He's probably reveling in this attention._ Akira sighed. “Waitin’ around’s a pain, so can we just go with these chicks?”

“No way Ryuji.” Akira told him, trying to find a way to get the girls to leave without being too aggressive.

“We can apologize to the others later!” Ryuji insisted. Akira glanced over to Yusuke. A knowing glance between them. Even though they had never spoken about their sexualities upfront Akira and Yusuke knew enough about each other to find some solidarity. Yusuke nodded and the turned to the group of girls. 

“That’s enough.” Yusuke’s sharp tone silenced the group. “You’re disgracing your yukata. You should be more aware of your womanhood.” His words were enough to drive the women away. Akira gave out a relieved sigh while Ryuji... 

"How could you!? Those girls were all over us!" The blonde shouted, dumbfounded by Yusuke's sharpness.

“Why don’t you after them then?” A familiar voice snapped at Ryuji.

The trio looked to see Ann and Makoto walking towards them. Neither of them looked too pleased. Akira wondered how long they had been standing there. 

“So those are the kinds of girls you like, Ryuji.” Makoto crossed her arms as they stood in front of him. 

Ryuji stood down, looking ashamed and embarrassed. Most likely from being caught. “Uh, well… That’s…” 

“…You know. Yusuke’s such a pretty boy, but he is really missing out because of what he says.” Ann moved the conversation along. Akira was happy that at least Ann didn't bring him into it. Though Ann was probably the only one who he had talked to directly about his orientation.

Makoto nodded to Ann's point. “I guess, but he’s more likeable since he stays true to his ideals. Definitely more than somebody I know.” 

The girls and Ryuji argued a bit more, while Akira stepped to Yusuke's side. "Hey thanks back there." 

The blue-haired boy returned a proud smile. "Of course. Consider us... brothers in arms." 

"That is one way of putting it." Akira laughed a little and then turned back to the others. He was glad he could count on friends like him. 

“Hey, it’s gonna get crowded if we don’t get going.” Ann reminded them. 

“Agreed.” Yusuke and Akira walked with the rest of the group.

“But man, you both look amazin’ in yukata! Talk about Japanese beauty…” Ryuji began, clearly talking about Ann and Makoto.

“Thanks Ryuji I appreciate the complement.” Akira replied with a smirk. Attempting to get him back from earlier.

Ryuji grew flustered and snappy. “I-I didn't mean you damn it!” The group erupted into laughter at Ryuji's outburst.

* * *

By the time the group got out into the crowds, the fireworks had already started. Akira and Yusuke were tall enough to get an 'ok' view of the fireworks, but the others had a harder time viewing them. If there was more space Akira would have offered to lift one of them up. But it was what it was. _The fireworks are really pretty._ Akira pulled out his phone to snap a pic. 

As he brought his phone down, a drop of water splashed onto the screen. Another hit his hand. _Hm?_ Akira glanced up a few more drops hit his face. Before he could react it started to pour down on them. The crew hurried over to 777 for some sort of shelter from the sudden downpour. It was pointless though. Akira and the crew were already soaked to the bone. Akira's dark wavy almost curly hair was starting to tangle together. He groaned and started to work his hands through his hair as they walked into the store.

Even though they were safe from the rain, the store was tightly packed with other people in a similar state to them. 

“Ack… we’re just tryin’ to get outta the rain, but look how crowded it is…” Ryuji groaned stretched a little.

Ann sighed having wrung out the bottom of her yukata as she walked in. “I guess everyone had the same idea…” She sighed. Akira nodded and then made sure that everyone was ok. Besides being uncomfortably wet, everyone seemed ok. Morgana attempted to groom himself. Yusuke was drying off a fan he had brought. Makoto looked out through the window out on the street. 

"Makoto? Is something wrong?" Akira asked. Makoto turned back to Akira. 

The short-haired girl seemed troubled as she answered him. "No I thought I just saw someone I know..." 

"You mean the girl in that black car?” Ann asked her. Akira tilted his head confused. He hadn’t paid much attention when they were outside. Everyone else seemed to have seen the mystery girl. "Yeah I've seen her around school." Ann continued. 

Ryuji grumbled and scuffed his heels a bit. “Well, she got a ride… Oh!” Ryuji immediately perked up and turned to Akira. “Time to show your skills, Mona! We need you as a car!”

Morgana nearly leapt out of Akira’s bag in response. “It’s not possible in the real world!” He snapped back. The group sighed. 

“My feet hurt… it’s cold… The festival’s been canceled… this sucks…” Ann complained, her arms crossed to try to keep her warm in the cold store.

"Not to mention my hair." Akira muttered, starting to fidget with his hair.

"Ugh you're telling me..." Ann pouted. 

“We made such a commotion with the public, and this is what we get?” Ryuji hissed, staring at the ground with a frown. “Laaame. Aren’t heroes that lurk in the shadows boring?” Ryuji glanced up to Akira with a bothered expression.

Akira shook his head. "Of course not." Akira didn't know how the others felt, but Akira wasn't in it for the fame. As long as he could still help others he didn't mind whether or not he was noticed. He glanced over to the rest of the team who watched him expectantly. “Besides I like the shade.” Akira smiled. 

“What are you, moss?” Ryuji asked as the rest of the group chuckled a bit.

Akira's stomach growled and he glanced over to the snacks. He had an idea. “How about I buy some snacks for us?” Akira suggested. The group lit up at the suggestion. With the help of Ryuji and Yusuke, Akira picked up a horde of snacks and brought it back to the girls. As they settled down near the front of the store, the place began to slowly empty. 

As Ryuji snacked on some chips, he started to speak. His tone more serious. “But for real. I wanna change the world with a loud bang, like a huge firework!” Ryuji's eyes shined with determination. When Akira glanced around he noticed the others had the same drive. Akira nodded, if this is what they wanted to do he would do whatever he could do get them there. 

“It is going to be hard to find a bigger target than Kaneshiro that easily.” Ann brought up. The group nodded and continued to chat for a little bit until the rain outside eased.

Eventually, Akira glanced over to the window. “It looks like the rain has let up.”

“It seems so.” Yusuke told them with a sigh. “Though it’s regrettable, we should go our separate ways for today.”

“Yeah. Let’s go home.” Morgana told Akira.

Akira nodded and after wishing everyone a safe trip home, the group dispersed. As he approached LeBlanc, Akira was more than ready for a warm bath and a nice change of clothes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I headcanon Yusuke as just general 'not straight', so interpret that as you will.


	8. Akira in Drag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two men approach Akira in Shujuku which leads to an eye-opening experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't like how the scene played out in P5 or P5 Royals so I did my spin on it. Longer than expected but hope it's enjoyable!

Shinjuku. That’s where Akira investigation had ended up. He was here with Ryuji to help find more information on their next target. A mafia boss who was targeting students and countless others. The thought of it made Akira sick, but it wasn’t the Phantom Thieves that had picked him as the target. Makoto Nijima, the student council president and someone who seemed way to invested in revealing the group’s identities, had told them to go after him.

Akira did his best to remain civil with her, but her constant pressuring and her lack of information to work with didn’t help any. Still a weak target had to better than no target. _Besides if we didn’t accept a challenge how would we make any real change?_

Lucky for Akira he still had connections with a news reporter that he had bumped into during his investigation of Madarame. She wanted to meet a bar in Shinjuku. It made Akira a little uncomfortable to meet at the Red light district, but he had to do what he had to do.

“Here we are. Crossroads Bar.” Ryuji stopped beside him. Akira glanced up to the bright pink neon sign. “Goin’ in uniform was probably a bad idea… we got caught last time too.” Ryuji explained, scratching his head.

“ _You_ got caught last time.” Akira corrected him. Of course Ryuji hadn’t changed out of his school uniform. He stuck out like a sore thumb. “You should probably wait out here.” Akira suggested.

Ryuji sighed defeated. “I came all the way to Shinjuku and can’t even go in?” He whined and finally gave in. “Fiiinnnee. I’ll kill time somewhere nearby… Just lemme know when you’re done.” Ryuji kicked his foot lightly.

Akira nodded and walked into the place. It was about as small as he expected and the rosy lighting didn’t help the place feel any bigger. Though as he entered he noted a staircase. _Maybe there’s a bigger space on the upper floor?_

The bartender, dressed very… loudly, turned to look at him with a wide grin. “Welcome, welcome!” They gestured him over. Akira walked over, noting that the reporter was waiting at the bar. “How old are ya, boy?”

“Sorry, Lala-chan. He’s with me.” The reporter spoke with a smile.

“Ooh, you picked up a real young one this time… Just don’t let a minor drink alcohol, OK?” Lala told her.

“Actually it’s not like that.” Akira quickly explained, but it didn’t seem to help ease any of the awkwardness.

“Lala-chan, I’m just going to borrow the seats in the back! Go on back there. I’ll treat you to some water!” The reporter waved him off. Akira nodded and uncomfortably moved behind the curtain in the back. A group of booths huddled in space.

“Ugh, she reeks of booze…” Morgana muttered beside him as the reporter sat across from him in a booth.

“Haha, what a surprise. I thought you were joking, yet here you are. I respect that bravery, so I’ll listen to what you have to say. Well, what do you want to know?” She leaned in to listen to him.

“Why is Shibuya dangerous? Who’s responsible?” The question felt so vague as he asked it, but it seemed enough to spark something in the reporter. Concerned, she straightened her posture.

“Why is someone like you asking something like that?” She tilted her head a little confused, but continued. “Well I do happen to know something… but maybe we can trade info? The public has been focused on the Phantom Thieves lately. I remember you in a Shujin uniform. So I thought maybe you might have some insider knowledge on the Phantom Thieves because of it. Their first incident was that of Kamoshida after all.” She took a sip of the drink.

Akira didn’t realize that he hadn’t even touched the water that she had brought him. _Probably a safe bet._

The reporter placed her cup down. “So do you want to trade?”

“If those are your terms.” Akira nodded. As long as he was careful with what he said it should be safe.

“Ideally, I’d like to get some exclusive coverage from a student who suffered Kamoshida’s abuse.” She explained. “I would love an introduction if you know of someone who fits the bill.”

 _Someone who suffered Kamoshida’s abuse._ Akira’s mind went straight to Mishima. Akira didn’t like using him as a pawn for information… _but it is for the Phantom Thieves so maybe he’ll be okay with it?_ He reluctantly nodded. “Alright.”

“It’s a deal then. Send me your friend’s contact info later.”

Akira nodded and made a mental note to warn Mishima ahead of time. Hopefully Mishima would be okay with it.

After a little more discussion with the reporter, Akira finally got a name.

“Junya Kaneshiro!” Ryuji shouted loudly in the street. Both Akira and Morgana shushed him. The two of them had just reconvened outside of a theater. “Right sorry.” Ryuji apologized loosely. He pulled out his phone and open the metaverse. He typed in the name. “It’s a hit! Mkay, now we just gotta get some info on the distortion. Once we know that, it’s Palace time!” Ryuji grinned.

Akira felt a little relieve at the news. They were one small step closer to their goal. 

“Let’s try tomorrow. It’ll be better when we have the whole team together.” Morgana insisted.

“Right. I’ll tell everyone to meet up in Shibuya.” Ryuji offered. “This is totally crazy though… It’s a huge catch! I pumped.”

“Ooh, you’re right! He really WOULD be a natural!” A loud voice caught Akira and Ryuji’s attention.

Another voice replied. “I saw him coming out of crossroad’s too!”

They turned to see two men facing them.

“Whoa, who the hell are they!?” Ryuji asked panicked as two men approached them. Both dressed over the top. They went directly over to Akira as they answered Ryuji.

“Oh, hell has nothing to do with it, honey. I’m Angel sent straight from heaven!” One of them told him.

“And I’m Julian. But please call me Julie.” The other introduced himself offering a handshake. Akira cautiously took it.

“What a cutie! And so tall! You’d never guess he would be into the drag scene. We should show him the ropes!” Angel turned to Julie.

“Excuse me!?” Ryuji nearly choked and glanced to Akira.

Akira felt a little panicked with everyone’s focus on him. “Me? Oh no I’m not into that.” Akira tried to clear up any misconception. The two men a little disappointed his answer.

“Yeah he’s not like that!” Ryuji shouted.

Akira felt a little uncomfortable from both groups. Akira cleared his throat as he continued, unsure even as he answered. “Yeah really I appreciate the offer, but we should really get going.”

Julie backed off. “Oh honey, we totally understand.” Angel, on the other hand, was still being a little pushy.

“But your physique, your gentle features, and those legs?! You have what it takes to be a star!” Angel pulled something out of his wallet and handed it to Akira. “Here’s my business card! If you’re ever interested please don’t hesitate to call!”

The two men left. Ryuji huffed. “What the hell was that? That was really creepy for them to just come up to you like that! And drag?” Ryuji continued to grumble as Akira glanced down at the card in his hand.

“Yeah.” Akira reluctantly muttered. _Professional Drag Performer, huh?_ Akira shook the thought off and placed the card in his pocket.

“We should probably head back before we draw more attention.” Morgana suggested to Akira.

Akira nodded, getting his mind back on track. They were all tired from the investigation and it was getting later than he had expected. “Yeah good idea.” 

* * *

After the defeat of Kaneshiro, Akira found the card that the drag queen, Angel, had given him. He would be lying if he wasn’t a little curious. It had never been something he had considered, especially since he didn’t think too much about his sexuality or being involved in any community around it. _It couldn’t hurt to go and learn more._ Akira decided to reach out to Angel.

Surprisingly Angel still remembered Akira and excitedly set up a day to dress Akira up. He promised Akira that he wouldn’t have to perform, just to try on a few outfits.

It took a bit to come up with a solid excuse and get Morgana off his trail for the day. But Akira managed. He met with Angel at Crossroads, greeted pleasantly by Lala and few other people he had never met. The number of strangers there made him uneasy, but they were nice to Akira.

The group brought Akira up a flight of stairs to a wider space with a stage. They eagerly pulled him into a dressing room station and began the process.

It was strangely fun. Akira had never expected so much work to go into it. Not to mention that Angel and his friends were so welcoming to Akira.

Akira laid back as they worked on his make-up.

“I’m asexual.” He suddenly stated. The room was silent for a moment. An embarrassed panic set in. “Oh sorry I didn’t—”

“No it’s okay. You’re safe here.” The words settled his panic instantly. He had never really brought it up to his family. Though he suspected that his parents were suspicious since he never brought anyone home to meet them. "Do you want to talk about it?" One of them asked. Akira nodded and relaxed as the group continued the transformation.

When they finished their make-up and clothes, they made sure to keep Akira away from mirrors. They wanted to surprise him. Akira felt anxious as he placed on the wig they gave him. It was strange how well it matched his own hair, though he would like to think that his hair was a little softer than the wig.

“And one final touch!” Angel told Akira and blew a bunch of glitter onto him. Akira barely had time to close his eyes.

“Ah.” Akira blinked as the glitter settled.

“Oh sorry about that! Should’ve warned you a little sooner!” Angel laughed awkwardly and then wiped off the excess glitter from his hands. “But you look stunning!” Angel smiled.

“I do?” Akira asked. The others nodded.

“Akira Suou meet Kira Heart!” Angel walked him over to the mirror. When faced with his reflection, he was shocked. “I really do look like a girl.” Akira muttered, head tilted as he inspected himself. A smile formed on his face. _I didn’t know I was that pretty._ Yeah pretty was the word he was looking for. It was impressive.

After taking a few pictures of himself, Akira dressed back into his normal clothing. The make-up taking too long to remove and some glitter still trapped in his hair. With a quick goodbye, Akira returned home. Slowly picking out the glitter in his hair as he settled back into his room.


	9. An exchange between Alibaba and Joker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira has an intense exchange through text.

Joker… well Akira, was exhausted. Med-Jed, a huge hacker organization had declared an attack on the Phantom Thieves. He didn’t even know where to begin on handling something like this. At the same time the group had been contacted by ‘Alibaba’ an equally mysterious hacker, who offered to help the Phantom Thieves at the price of targeting someone. Akira didn’t like the idea of working with someone so shady, but they didn’t have much choice.

He had spent the night re-reading the Phan-site’s thread about ‘the Great Showdown between the Phantom Thieves and MedJed’! It didn’t help his confidence in the slightest. Everyone hugely overestimated the reach of the Phantom Thieves.

So now he was dragging himself to school, having picked up several pastries on the way. “Don’t eat all of it now! You have to make it last!” Morgana snapped at him.

“Sorry, but I’m under a lot of stress right now.” Akira admitted. Morgana sighed and settled in his bag as they went to school.

The class was uneventful. Akira wasn’t even called once, which was disappointing. He hoped that the lecture could get his mind off of the whole situation.

His phone buzzed and Akira pulled out a little to read it. “It’s Alibaba.” Morgana muttered as they read the phone.

**Unknown: Good day Akira Suou.**

The fact that Alibaba used his full name emphasized to Akira how much power they really held right now. Akira gritted his teeth and texted back.

**Akira: Good day to you too Alibaba.**

**Unknown: Ah, you responded today. You are the leader of the Phantom Thieves, correct?**

**Akira: That’s right.**

**Unknown: Mm, I appreciate your honesty. I take it you received the calling card I sent you? Are you at school right now?**

Akira glanced up to the teacher who had changed subjects entirely. _Crap I'll have to ask Mishima for notes later..._

**Akira: Yes I’m in class.**

**Unknown: Hm, you’re a surprisingly diligent student.**

**Akira: I try to be.**

Akira sighed a little. It was no use trying to focus on anything else.

**Unknown: I have prepared the calling card for you. When are you going to steal it?**

**Akira: Steal from who?**

**Unknown: What do you mean by that? Aren’t you able to steal a heart as long as you have a calling card?**

**Akira: It’s not that easy. I need the full name of the target.**

**Unknown: A name? Is your heart thievery truly impossible without such information?**

**Akira: It is.**

**Unknown: I see… Hm, I suppose past calling cards did have names on them. One moment…**

"Who is this guy?" Morgana whispered to Akira. He shrugged a little as he waited for a reply.

 **Unknown:** I **believe their name was… Futaba Sakura.**

**Akira: Noted.**

**Unknown: If you fail in this mission, I will expose your identity to the world and to the authorities.**

His father came to mind. If he got involved... Akira dreaded the consequences.

**Akira: I understand.**

Akira thought for a moment and then kept the conversation going.

**Akira: You know who my parents are, don't you?**

**Unknown: I do.**

**Akira: If I do this, could you gather information about my father for me?**

**Unknown: He’s the detective correct?**

**Akira: That's right.**

"That's smart Akira. With information like that we can stay under the radar." Morgana replied at Akira.

A few minutes passed before Alibaba replied. Morgana now as invested in the answer as Akira.

**Unknown: I see. You want to make sure the Phantom Thieves' identities are secure.**

**Akira: Yes.**

He held his breath a little, anxiously awaiting a reply.

**Unknown: Very well. You have a deal.** **I’ll be counting on you and your Phantom Thieves. We shall speak again after the change of heart.**

Akira sighed. There seemed to be more and more on the line each passing day. 


	10. Medjed declares war

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a group sushi dinner, Akira and his friends hang out in the Underground mall. Only to run into trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took way too long to push out. :/

It had been too long since Akira had some space to breath. The group had decided to use the money from Kaneshiro’s treasure to and have sushi at a nice restaurant. Afterwards they decided to walk around the underground mall for a bit. Akira was in the middle of explaining his role in the nearby flower shop when they were interrupted.

“Nijima-san! What are you doing here?” The group turned to see Detective Akechi approach them. The air felt tenser as he talked to the group. “You’re the ones from the TV station. Could it be that you’re friends of Nijima-san?”

Yusuke leaned over to Akira. “Do you know this guy?” Akira nodded.

“I don’t think we’ve met.” Akechi noticed Yusuke and offered his hand. “My name is Goro Akechi." Yusuke reluctantly shook his hand. "Glad to make your acquaintance, Yusuke Kitagawa.”

Immediately, Yusuke pulled away from him. “H-How do you know my name?” 

“Well, because I’m a psychic, of course.” Akechi laughed a little. This only made things worse. “Haha, I’m only joking. In truth, I’m a rookie detective. You’re a former pupil of Madarame, right?” Yusuke nodded and settled to Akira side, uneasy. “I have actually just recently joined the investigation team looking into the Phantom Thieves.”

 _Investigation team._ The words didn’t sit well with Akira.

Akechi seemed to pick up on Akira's slight reaction. He turned to him. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to butt into your conversation. But I must say, this is an interesting group you have here. Prosecutor Nijima’s sister, an ex-pupil of Madarame, and a few Shujin Academy students. It seems you’re all connected to the Phantom Thieves case one way or another. Perhaps you have better intel than I do.” Akechi maintained a grin as he spoke to Akira. 

"Did you want something?" Ryuji barked at Akechi. It didn't seem that Akechi was phased and he just continued to direct the conversation.

"Did you see that Medjed has declared war on Phantom Thieves?" 

Akira blinked surprised. "War?" 

Akechi nodded. "Their website was updated just a little while ago.”

“For real?!” Ryuji and Ann pulled out their phones. Akira simply watching as Akechi took note of their fast reactions.

 _What is he trying to do?_ Akira bit his tongue as Akechi spoke to Akira. 

"Ah, yes I wanted to ask you something. Regarding this whole Medjed commotion... If you were one of the Phantom Thieves, what would you do Suou-kun?" Akechi asked him. His inquisitive gaze starting bother Akira. 

"I would ignore them." Akira answered, loud enough to snap Ryuji and Ann out of their panicked states. 

"That is unexpected..." Akechi thought for a moment. "Only a small minority of people believe that is the best decision." 

Ryuji turned to Akechi, annoyed and agitated. "Do you have something to say, Mr. Detective?”

Akechi’s smile disappeared as he answered Ryuji. A harsh stare lingered in its place.

“My profiling of the Phantom Thieves has led me to believe they are a group of juveniles. They have a relative amount of free time after school, and hideout to slip away to. Furthermore, considering Kamoshida was their first target, it seems they began activity around April.” The bitter resentment in his tone surprised everyone. “In a way, all I’ve just said about the Phantom Thieves coincides with the group you have here.”

The implied accusation only seemed to rile up Ryuji more. "What you plannin' on reporting us or something!?" 

“I didn’t say I was being suspicious of you.” Akechi clarified. Ryuji winced, knowing that he had just gave rise to more suspicion. The rest of the group watched concerned as Akechi remarked, "I was just making an observation."

"Observations aren't always correct Akechi-kun." Akira remarked back. "You should be careful not to assume that." 

Akechi simply stared at Akira for a moment. At first seeming startled, but then shifting into some form of amusement. "I certainly wasn't anticipating that response." He admitted. "You really are an intriguing one Suou-kun. You must get your decisiveness from your parents. Your father maybe."

Reflexively Akira stiffened. Akechi smirked at his reaction. _So he does know._ Akira shouldn't have been surprised... still Akira couldn't figure out why Akechi was going about it like this. _Why doesn't he just come up front with it?_

“I lack your calm mannerisms I'm afraid, but don’t you think my deduction is an interesting one?” Akechi continued with a chuckle, all signs of his bitterness gone. The ringing of the young detective's phone kept the conversation from going any further. "Well, this has been a valuable point of reference for me. I hope to see you all again soon." He waved a little as he walked away. 

Akira felt his skin crawl. The eyes of his teammates hovered over to him. 

"Akira. Do you think he's ascertained our true identities?” Yusuke asked.

“Nah, couldn’t be. Right?” Ryuji tried to reassure him. Akira frowned and then looked over to Makoto, who seemed to be thinking the same thing as him. 

“I’d like to say that it’s simply us overthinking this, but… it may be best to be cautious from now on. We shouldn’t forget that Alibaba was able to discover who we are.” Makoto explained. The group nodded. 

After a calm breath, Akira addressed the group. "Makoto is right. For now, let's just play it safe." His thoughts sifted through the conversation with Akechi. "Right now I'm worried about what Akechi said." 

"Oh yeah about MedJed declaring war on the Phantom Thieves! Here let me pull it up." Ann told him and unlocked her phone. Her face grew a little pale as she skimmed it. 

"What’d they write!?” Ryuji leaned over her shoulder.

Ann took a deep breath and then started to read the message. " 'We are disappointed in the people of Japan and their belief in the Phantom Thieves’ false justice. Hence, we shall proceed with our plan to cleanse Japan. This process will commence on August 21st. As a result, the Japanese economy shall suffer devastating damages'." Ann paused. 

"For real...?" Ryuji stared at her phone stunned. The air feeling cold around them.

Ann looked up to Akira, as if she was too nervous to read it. Akira gave her an encouraging nod. She nodded back and kept reading.

“However, we are magnanimous. We will give the Phantom Thieves one final opportunity to repent. As proof of this repentance, we demand that they reveal their identities to the public. We will attack if these demands are unmet. The future of Japan rests with the Phantom Thieves. We are Medjed, we are unseen, we will eliminate evil.' That's all it says." Ann placed her phone into her pocket.

“Sounds bad…” Ryuji frowned. Bad didn’t even begin to describe it.

"In other words, if we don't unmask ourselves, Medjed will attack Japan... What are we gonna do about this Akira?" Ann asked him, her face pale with fear. 

As Akira glanced around, the others seemed equally concerned. Akira frowned. He didn't know the answer either. 

* * *

Later that night, Akira laid in bed his mind racing. It occurred to him that he hadn't really heard much from his parents the past few days. It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but the lingering comment from Akechi about his father left him concerned. _What if they did bring my father onto the case? Then we might actually be in trouble…_ He shook his head, trying to push the thought aside. _I'm probably just overthinking it._ His mind buzzed around the topic and he finally set his phone down. _I should really just sleep on it._

“Were you just going to go to sleep without even wondering where I was?” A familiar black cat startled Akira. Akira sat up. Morgana settling in front of him.

"Where were you?" Akira sat up. Morgana stretched out. 

"Just gathering intel. I was checking out Boss’ house. I didn’t think our Alibaba would be so young…”

Akira tilted his head. “Young? What was she like?”

“She had long hair and a pretty young-sounding voice. Well I say young, but I think she’s probably about the same age as you guys. At the very least, she’s surely no amateur.” Morgana told him. “She completely overhead your conversation with the chief, and she can hack into our chats too.” Morgana told him. Akira grew cold. No wonder she knew so much about them and Akira. 

“She has this place bugged.” Akira muttered. Partially impressed and intimidated.

“Even is she can’t take Medjed down directly, she might have some kind of lead on them.” Morgana told him. “In any case, we’ll need to rely on Futaba to get closer to Medjed. Let’s meet up again tomorrow. How about we do it in here? It’s way too hot outside.” Morgana suggested. Akira nodded. 

"Sounds good."


	11. Baking out the stress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira stress bakes.

Akira was a stress baker. Back home, he would bake around finals and whenever something important was around the corner. In Tokyo it was a bit harder to maintain the habit, LeBlanc wasn’t his kitchen back home and Sojiro had made it very clear early on that he was not allowed to touch any of the supplies that belonged to the café. So even though he bought his own supplies for baking, Akira tried to find other ways to manage his stress. Which was going well, until Medjed.

Medjed had declared ‘war’ on the Phantom Thieves and their intentions of ‘purging japan’ on the 21st, Akira could focus on nothing else. He and the other thieves had diligently worked to get through Futaba Sakura’s Palace. Not only did the Phantom Thieves help her overcome her own inner guilt, but they gained a powerful ally and weapon to fight Medjed…

…Well Futaba would be, if she hadn’t collapsed from exhaustion when they returned from her palace. Akira could only imagine how much of a toll that would take on someone’s body.

Without Futaba, the Phantom Thieves had no chance against Medjed. On top of that Akira was growing more anxious about the Phantom Thieves’ popularity. It was nice to know that they were reaching and helping more people… but it meant that the stakes would only grow higher. The though made him overly cautious and paranoid.

That night, Akira had awoken around 1 am. Sweating and panicked, he spent some time browsing his phone. Unable to get back to sleep, he headed down to the café to bake something.

He put his headphones in and went to work. The cookies were pretty simple, so Akira decided to up the challenge a little. While he waited for them to cool off, he whipped some homemade icing. When everything lined up, Akira sat down at a booth and started to ice cookies. His mind found peace as he hummed along to a tune.

“What are you doing?” Morgana’s voice broke Akira’s concentration. The not-a-cat cat settled on the seat glancing up to him.

Akira didn’t look at Morgana as he acknowledged him. “Icing these cookies.” Morgana groaned annoyed. “I only have a few more, then I’ll go back to bed.”

“There’s no point. It’s almost 4:30. You should make sure that you clean up before boss gets here.” Morgana explained him.

This seemed to be enough to snap Akira out of his zone. “Already?” He glanced to his phone and then to Morgana. “Huh. Sorry.” Akira frowned a little. “Well let me finish these last few and then clean up.” Akira told Morgana.

Morgana reluctantly nodded, his tail twitching.

“Very well.” Morgana watched him. The not-a-cat focused on Akira as he delicately iced the cookies. His focus in baking was exactly as it was in battle, graceful and direct. It seemed like there were things that Morgana and the team still needed to learn about Akira.

When Akira finished he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and smiled. “Done.”

Akira went to work cleaning up as he let the cookies dry. It was about 5:30 or so when he finished putting the remaining cookies away in a few containers.

“I can’t believe you made nearly four dozen cookies! What were you thinking?” Morgana shouted at Akira. Akira nervously scratched his head.

“Ah I may have gone a little overboard.” Akira tried to laugh it off, but Morgana just stared at him unamused.

Satisfied, Akira crashed onto his bed. Around 2 hours later, Sojiro called him to come help with the café. Akira dragged himself out of bed, absolutely exhausted.

He went down and grabbed a coffee, dumping even more sugar and milk than usual.

“Hey, I have an errand to run today, so I need you to watch the café on your own.” Sojiro addressed him as he finished drinking his coffee. “Do you think you can handle it?” Sojiro looked at him expectantly.

Akira nodded, stifling a yawn. “Of course.”

After Sojiro left, Akira took his place behind the bar.

The day was fairly slow, with only one or two customers coming in for the first part of the day. Akira did his best to stay awake, though the lack of sleep was gnawing on him. Peckish and bored, Akira grabbed one of the container of cookies, set it on the bar and started to casually snack through the cookies. 

One of the customers stood up to leave. “Thank you for the coffee, I left the money on the table.” They said and started to walk out but paused. “Oh, I didn’t know you guys had cookies.” They walked over to the cookie container on the bar. 

“Would you like one? On the house.” Akira smiled and offered one. The customer nodded and took a cookie from the container. As they bit into it, their face lighting up after swallowing.

“Wow! That’s delicious! Are these homemade?” They asked him.

Akira nodded eager to share more. “Yep. Here take as many as you’d like.” He offered more. They took a few, thanked him and left.

Pleased, Akira glanced down to the jar of cookies. _Mm Maybe I could give start to give them out more often._

So that’s what he did.

The rest of the day he offered cookies to customers going in and out. The smile on their faces eased Akira’s stress and kept him motivated as he worked. As the day came to a close, Sojiro walked in. By then the cookie containers were all empty and had been placed neatly away. “I’m back. Did everything go well?” Sojiro asked him. Akira nodded. Sojiro sighed relieved. “Good. Why don’t you head up? I’ll clean and close up here.”

Akira gave him a quick thank you and walked up to his space, immediately crashing on his bed. 

* * *

For the next couple of days, Akira repeated this pattern of baking late and handing them out the following day to customers. As the August 21st deadline got close, Akira stress levels continued to feed Akira’s habit more. Akira even offered to let Sojiro go home early.

After a week of this pattern, Sojiro finally confronted Akira.

The two were cleaning the café after closing up. _There’s only two more days to the deadline… hope things will work out._ Akira sighed and continued to work diligently. _Maybe tonight I’ll make cupcakes… or brownies? Hmm or should I do croissants? That could go well with coffee though it would be best if I do them closer to opening so they’re fresh…_

“Be honest with me Akira.” Sojiro began. Akira turned to him, a little nervous from his tone. “What have you been doing behind my back?”

“What?”

“Some of the customers told me that you’ve been giving out baked goods.” Sojiro told him. “You better not be using our supplies.”

“Oh that.” Akira ran a hand on the back of his neck as he came up with an explanation. “Actually, I’ve been buying my own supplies.” He made his way to back and pulled out a cardboard box where he kept his things. “I didn’t mean to mess with business or anything. I’ve just been…” _stressed._ “practicing my baking. That’s all.”

For a moment, it was unclear what Sojiro was going to do. But after a sigh, he simply spoke calmly to Akira. “I see. Well it’s good that you’ve been avoiding using the stuff from the café. Still we should probably just sell what you make. The customers seem to like them enough.” Akira gave a sigh of relief. “Though I want to try whatever you bake I don’t want you feeding my customers trash.”

Akira nodded, smiling. “Will do.”


	12. Two geeks in a pod

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira, Makoto, and Yusuke go to Futaba's room to help her better her social skills.

With Medjed down, the Phantom Thieves could breath again. They had added a new teammate and their popularity was quickly rising. For now, Akira decided to not pick the next big target and ride the aftermath for a bit. The Phantom Thieves current goal was focused around their newest member, Futaba. Despite her change of heart, she still had a lot to work on. She needed to work on being around other people and come out of her shell. So the group was now working on a ‘rehabilitation program’.

Akira, Yusuke, and Makoto met for the first real session of rehabilitation.

“What is that supposed to be?” Makoto sighed as they settled into Futaba’s room. Futaba wearing a strange paper doll mask thing. Akira didn’t really know how to describe it.

Futaba replied blankly. “Don’t worry about it.” Yusuke looked over the mask once, impressed.

“Such avant garde design. You have excellent taste.” The artist complemented her, eliciting a pleased chuckle. Makoto sighed.

“Let’s get started, shall we?” Makoto told them.

Reluctantly, Futaba took off the mask. Akira sat on the bed beside Morgana, while Yusuke focused on something in the corner.

“So what do you plan on doing?” Morgana asked Makoto. 

“I’d like to simply have a normal conversation. That is the basis of true communication, after all.” Makoto explained her plan of attack with a confident smile. It made sense enough. Though whether she could efficiently do it was yet to be seen. Akira knew that Makoto had some trouble talking with peers too.

“You seem pretty confident.” Akira noted.

Makoto nodded. “Yes. You must be well-versed in speaking when you are student council president.” She turned to Futaba, who sat perched in her chair. “Don’t think too hard about our conversation. We’re just going to talk about ordinary topics today.”

“And what do you mean by ordinary topics?” Yusuke asked, messing with something in the corner. Akira wondered what he was doing there, but knew it probably wasn’t too important.

“You know, things like food or the weather.” Makoto answered and tried to come up with something start with. “Well then, let’s begin with food. What do you like to eat, Futaba?”

“Organic ones.”

“Um, that wasn’t exactly what I meant…” Makoto started and then tried again. “L-Let’s try a different topic! How about the weather? I heard that this heat wave is showing no sign of stopping…”

“Dunno. I haven’t been out.”

“O-Oh, right…” A notable silence followed. “Th-This is odd… It wasn’t supposed to go like this…”

Morgan sighed and muttered to Akira. “Makoto’s getting overwhelmed…”

Akira nodded and then thought for a moment, glancing around the posters in the room. One caught his eye. “Oh you like Phoenix Rangers too?” Akira pointed to it. At the mention Futaba lit up.

“Whoa you too!?” Futaba asked excitedly. Akira nodded.

“Yeah! Did you read the latest comic? It was insane! I can’t believe that the traitor was–”

“—Don’t spoil it! I haven’t gotten it yet!” Futaba interrupted him. The two excitedly started to geek out together. Akira getting up to talk with her. Makoto smiled and sat beside Morgana, taking Akira’s place.

“Huh? Take a look at that—Futaba’s having a regular conversation.” Morgana told Makoto. Makoto nodded, a little impressed by Akira, though upset by her own failure to get through to Futaba.

“It seens she doesn’t have a problem talking to others as long as the subject interests her.” Makoto remarked and then frowned. “I suppose the topics I brought up were not the right ones.” The short haired girl glanced over to Yusuke who still stood in the corner. “By the way Yusuke, what have you been doing this whole time?”

It took a moment for Yusuke to answer. “Ah, superb.” He pulled away and then spoke to the group. “Behold my masterpiece.” On the stand nearby were Phoenix Ranger Figures. Akira and Futaba went dead quiet. Everything about them was wrong. The pieces were mixed and matched poorly. “Some of their heads came off when I was moving them, but I made sure to rearrange them pleasingly.” Futaba let out a screech and hurried over to them.

“M-My children… Wh-What have you done… to my children…?”

Yusuke didn’t seem to be worried about them though. “They appear to be quite shoddily-made.” He commented. Futaba stomped on the ground in anger.

“They’re from ‘Phoenix Rangers Neo Featherman!” Futaba went to try and fix them. Akira cringed as he got a better look. “No… Yellow and Pink’s heads… and Red’s been hacked to bits…” The figures were pretty much ruined.

 _Damn. Poor Futaba. They don’t even sell this line anymore._ Akira thought. When he looked at Yusuke, it was clear that he didn’t really understand what he had done or what they were going on about.

“This is all Inari’s fault.” Futaba grumbled.

“Inari?” Yusuke asked, confused as Futaba focused on him.

“Your thief clothes were like a fox. According to Japanese folklore, foxes like inarizushi, thus inari.” She snapped at him. Akira tried to stifle his laugh as Yusuke took a moment to process what she was referring too. “Rghhh, they were in the perfect poses too…! It was so much work getting them set up just right!” Futaba continued to shout out him. “You wouldn’t know aesthetics if it hit you in the face, Inari!”

Offended by this, Yusuke started to shout back at her. “H-How dare you say that to me of all people!?”

Akira sighed as the two started to blow-up. He moved to Makoto and Morgana.

Morgana sat up. “Sheesh, that’s not a conversation anymore… It’s a full-blown argument. Maybe you should say something.” Morgana suggested. Akira thought for a moment, but then shook his head.

“I think it’d be helpful for them to resolve this on their own.” What Akira really meant was that he really _really_ did not want to get involved.

Finally after some more back and forth, the two seemed to calm down.

“I see… So their versatility allows you to recreate almost any dramatic scene you can imagine.” Yusuke thoughtfully told Futaba. She nodded. “Fascinating. Art depicts a flash of inspiration, but models offer a much different means of enjoyment.” 

Akira gave a sigh of relief and turned to Makoto and Morgana. “If she can get along with Yusuke, I think she’ll do just fine in her rehabilitation.”  
  



	13. Beach Day with the Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira and the Phantom Thieves have a beach day to celebrate Futaba's change of heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rushed but hope you like it!

Akira loved going out to the beach... even though he didn't know how to swim. Despite that minor inconvenience, Akira would still enjoying the day with his friends. After settling in, the group settled down to lunch. Courtesy of Akira. He handed out boxes to everyone. Even Morgana, who was a little harder to cook for than expected. It was kinda hard to figure out what he could and could not eat. It seemed like he had the stomach of a human, he had snacked on things cats couldn't. Still Akira tried to err on the side of caution when it came to Morgana's food. 

A little eager, Akira watched as his friends took test bites of his food. All of them wide-eyed as they took their first bites. 

"Wow! This is delicious!" Ann smiled as she started to eat a little more eagerly. 

"Absolutely exquisite." Yusuke followed up, a little conservative in his bites. 

"For real dude! I should have you make my lunches for me!" Ryuji talked as he plowed through his good.

"Really?" The dark curly haired boy smiled. Morgana purred a loud agreement with the others. "I'm glad you guys like it." Akira settled down to eat his own box, settling in a shady spot of the umbrella. Pleasantly talking with his friends about life and what was going on, excluding their activities as 'Phantom Thieves'. 

Lunch was over sooner than expected. Everyone had placed their empty boxes back into Akira's beach bag and were still chatting among themselves.

Ryuji stood up and stretched out a little, his bad leg no doubt getting stiff. “So whadda we do now? Should we play some beach volleyball?” Ryuji asked.

Akira nodded. "I'm up for it." He looked over to the others. The girls noticeably growing a little uneasy and stood up. 

“Oh, sorry. Us girls already made plans to ride a banana boat.” Ann awkwardly explained.

“We could only rent a three-person one. Sorry.” Makoto apologized too, Akira frowning a little.

Though he couldn't be too mad at them. They hadn't exactly made explicit plans when they had talked about the beach day. The bleach blonde Ryuji didn't seem to share Akira's opinion on the matter. "Wait! What about us!?" 

"You can keep an eye on our stuff." Ann replied. 

"Hell no! Why you gotta treat us like that!?” Ryuji growled and stomped into the stand. “We’re celebrities makin’ headlines! You should treat us better!”

“I do think they’re not bad in the Metaverse, but in reality… well expect maybe Akira..." Makoto began.

Ann nodded in some form of understanding and agreement. “Besides Akira. The others can steal treasures, but they don’t seem like they can steal a girl’s heart at all.”

“B-But… Lady Ann.” Morgana weakly spoke, a little wounded by her claim.

The youngest of the group didn't seem interested in the conversation and gave a loud annoyed sigh. "Can we get to the banana boat already?" 

“Oh, sorry. We’ll go now.” Makoto assured her.

“We’ll switch when we’re done. Keep an on our stuff for us!” Ann told them as the three girls walked off. 

Ryuji stood fuming as they went out of sight. "Dammit." He huffed. "They just don't get how amazin' we are." Ryuji turned to Yosuke and Akira, who couldn't be less interested in ‘winning a girl’s heart’. “We risk our lives bein’ Phantom Thieves! There’s no way we’re the same as other guys around here.” Ryuji affirmed trying to hype himself up. “Shouldn’t we be havin’ more good times in reality too!?” 

“I mean I’m having fun just hanging with you two. We could still go to the volleyball court. It's not far.” Akira began. Ryuji shook his head. 

"That's no what I meant!" The blonde looked over to the blue haired art student, who seemed to be in some kind of thoughtful trance. "Yusuke." Yusuke snapped out of his trance and looked at Ryuji. "Don't you think we should be flexing out ability as true thieves of hearts?" 

Yusuke sat in deep thought for a moment and then muttered as he placed a careful hand under his chin. "...Well if you put it that way, you may be right.” 

“Ann and the others don’t get it ‘cause-" Ryuji began. 

“-Ryuji." Akira tried to interrupt Ryuji rants. "I’m sure that she already—”

“—Well we gotta steal hearts!" Ryuji shouted, more determined now. "Ann made fun of us and all. Let’s show her what we’re really made of.” 

Ryuji's confidence and determination seemed to rub off on the desperate Morgana. "I see." Morgana began. 

_Oh no._ Akira noticed the sparkle in Morgana's eyes.

"I just need to prove my skills in reality as well!" Morgana declared. Akira tried to ease him down. Ryuji wasn't the best for relationship advice. 

“Really Morgana you don’t need to listen to—” 

“—Let’s steal all the hearts with the skills we’ve honed as Phantom Thieves!” Ryuji told them. “I’m sure girls will be all over us, considering the vibes we give off!” 

Desperately, Akira looked to Yusuke to help settle this. Yusuke simply smiled and stood up with a nod. "Very well, let’s do this. Pulling off our work in reality doesn’t sound bad.” 

Akira sighed and stood up. He was the leader. What kind of leader would let his team make fools of themselves alone. "Fine. Count me in to." 

With their leader's ok, Ryuji grinned even more. "It's settled then!" 

Morgana remained behind to watch the stuff as the trio went off. 

Walking behind Ryuji, Akira whispered to Yusuke. "Are you really ok with this?" He asked him. 

"Personally I couldn't care less about the task at hand. I am however curious to see how Ryuji plans to tackle such a feat as stealing a heart." Yusuke replied with a mischievous smirk. Though it didn't last long as he noticed, Akira's troubled expression. "Is something on your mind?"

"It's nothing." Akira did his best to smile, though it wasn't very convincing. 

* * *

Ryuji was bad at flirting. Like really bad. Not to mention he could come off way too strong unchecked. It didn’t help that most of the girls they talked with immediately flocked to Yusuke and Akira. Neither of which were actually trying to flirt back. In fact, both of them rejected the girls advances. Yusuke with his sharp remarks and Akira with his more gentle redirection to try and give Ryuji more chances to get better. This lasted for what felt like forever. Pissed and fed up with it all, Ryuji stormed to the edge of the beach with very few people. He kicked the sand a little as they stood. 

Listening to Ryuji rant, Akira and Yusuke settled by the shore. Akira laid where the waves could lap at him, cooling him off. Yusuke crouched nearby, just a little out of the water's reach and drawing something in the sand with his hands. 

"...I dunno. The ocean just looks kinda bland to me." Ryuji groaned.

“It’s actually quite enchanting at this angle." Yusuke commented.

"Yusuke's right, the water is really nice." Akira began. "You should sit down with us.” Akira gestured with a little splash. 

The blonde growled back. "How can you say that!? We totally failed out mission!" After a few more minutes of stomping and grumbling around, Ryuji finally came to a decision. "That’s it. I’m going solo! Without you two I should have no trouble getting girls!” He explained and went off before Akira or Yusuke could argue. 

"Should we go after him?" Yusuke asked Akira. 

"Let's let him cool off a bit longer." Akira explained as the two gave a collective sigh. He laid down into the water, allowing the water to lap around him and through his hair. Taking a few deep breaths, Akira eased into the rhythms of the waves. 

"Despite our setbacks, it's been a rather pleasant day." Yusuke spoke quietly to Akira. A little out of his, Akira hummed a short agreement. A more aggressive wave catching in his hair. "Akira may I ask you something?" Akira opened his eyes and sat up a little to face Yusuke. "When we were accompanying Ryuji on his 'mission', you seemed troubled. Almost pained. How come?" 

"Ah that." Akira frowned. Yusuke was so observant, of course he noticed that. "To be honest. I don't like the idea of flirting with strangers... Also..." Akira paused, a hand coming up to his chest. Thinking about a certain someone who had gained his affections. "It feels unfair to steal some stranger's heart when someone has already stolen mine." Akira smiled fondly. 

“I see.” Yusuke thoughtfully nodded, a pleased smile of his own. Respecting Akira’s privacy, Yusuke stood up. “I believe that it's time to head back. We should go find Ryuji.”

Akira nodded. “Sounds good.”

The two of them stood up and went to find their hopeless flirt friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly didn't really like the way the beach day went in the game so I decided to have some fun with it! Also I tried to keep Akira's significant other vague here, because I'm not sure if I want to include the ship I'm using for my Akira in this work (though I will write other Akira Suou works with the ship) . Let me know if you have an opinion in the comments!


End file.
